It has been brought to my attention that I am not posting nearly enough baby pictures. That any time I let a day go by without including a photo of Ike, a grandmother's heart gets broken. Some general updates on him would also be nice, but don't trouble yourself too hard or anything, because the words are super easy to skip over.

OKAY THEN.

Baby Ike, at just one day shy of seven weeks old:

Baths are his favorite. Except for maybe teh milks, and butt pats, and getting butt pats while also getting teh milks, and one day he is going to figure out how to get butt pats and teh milks while ALSO getting a bath, and then his life's work will pretty much be complete and he can just chill for a few years.

I thought by going out of our way to find a name that wasn't another two-syllable-ends-in-the-ah-sound name that we'd avoid some of the name-related Tourette's. So far, it's not working, and every other sentence around here begins with a senile stream of "NOAH EZ CEIB IKE MAX YOU THERE" nonsense. Even when I'm actually not even trying to call any specific living thing in our household, but have simply momentarily forgotten the word for teapot.

Most of the time we just call every last one of 'em "Buddy" and call it a day.

And while we're on the subject of names...I was still in the first trimester when we settled on the name "Ike" for a boy. Jason and I were out at dinner and he was playing with one of those name-suggestion generator sites on his phone, and after inputting Noah and Ezra and several of our previous runners-up names, "Ike" popped up.

At first I laughed, because:

But because we are twisted, awful people, it turned out that the South Park connection wasn't really much of a negative. In fact, it probably was the deciding vote in the "pro" column, and we settled on Ike after less than five minutes of discussion.

You may remember this post, in which I fished for your opinions about the whole formal name/nickname thing while TRYING to not give too many details away that would make everybody figure out I was talking about Isaac vs. Ike. Your comments were incredibly helpful but incredibly divided. There was zero consensus. None consensus.

So in the end, I found out that Noah's occupational therapist had a friend named Ike, short for Isaac. I asked her to ask him what he thought we should do. He voted for including a formal name option, because while he only ever went by "Ike," he used Isaac on resumes and business cards and found it handy for correcting people who thought his name was "Mike." No, Ike. Short for Isaac. Etc.

Done. Thanks, random stranger!

Of course, now I'm not sure what to do about a certain passive-aggressive relative who insists on calling Ike "Isaac" all the time. That's not his name! I mean, it is, but it's not. GAH WORMHOLE.

(Oh, and yes: the blog nickname of "Baby Ikea" was a not-very-subtle hint. We never managed to agree completely on a girl name and joked that Baby Ike would just become Baby Ikea in case of a delivery room surprise. But then that nickname stuck anyway, because you know. I LOVE ME SOME IKEA.)

(And yes yes: I am aware that this post is hanging on by a narrative THREAD, and that I am basically just typing whatever pops into my head at any given moment hey this coffee is cold I need to shower I am soooo not telling Jason that Ike puked on his pillow just now.)

And this is the last time I'll bring up Winnie the Pooh. Except to point out that Noah willingly gave this to Baby Ike, so Baby Ike could have a friend, and don't you just die, and maybe almost momentarily forget all those times Noah screamed and shrieked and generally flipped his shit at Ezra for like, LOOKING at his Legos or being in the same ROOM as his cars? No? Yes?

Almost. But not quite.

Okay, last one and then I'm out:

Parenting dilemma of the smartphone age: Your baby will sort-of smile at you RIGHT when you're busy messing with settings in Hipstamatic and this momentous occasion will be forever preserved using a washed-out filter you don't like, dammit.

And then you will switch to a regular camera and your baby goes all, bish, plz, I ain't your monkey.

Comments

We had the opposite name problem with my youngest. We named him Gabriel and that's the name I insisted on. Gabriel, not Gabe. But wouldn't you know it, as soon as preschool started they started calling him "Gabe" and now almost everyone does and I've given up trying to correct them years ago since he's 10 now.

Anerable. Though I must say, as a twin with no other sibs, I do not understand how multiple sibling relationships work, and I feel some anxiety about Noah loving Ike so much and therefore somehow Ezra noticing and not feeling as special.

We struggled with the formal name/nick name thing too. The ONLY boy name we agreed on was Alexander while using the nickname Xander. I wanted him to have a formal name in case one day he decided that he didn't like Xander. Now, almost 10 months later, I sort of wish that we had just named him Xander. Although I'm pretty sure when he's a teenager "Alexander James" will roll right off my tongue when he is in trouble.

Funny that you chose Isaac-- that's my son's "formal" name as well. He actually goes by a nickname of his middle name, just to confuse the world. It fits. It works. He'll get therapy as an adult if he needs it. :)

LOL at the name Tourette's. I have two boys and can't ever remember their names, it seems. I can't even resort to calling them both "Buddy" because that's our cat's name, and they don't seem to like it when I slip up and call them Buddy...which I do almost daily.

We went with the formal name (Christopher) because my husband wants our son to pick his nickname. Most everyone calls him Chris already, but we call him Christopher. I like knowing that he'll have the formal option when he grows up.

And name generator sites? I must know!! We're starting to think about #2, and we have absolutely no consensus on a girl's name. It's a good thing our first was a boy, because if he had been a girl, that poor child still might not have a name, and he's 13.5 months old.

My younger daughter's name is Elliora. Unusual, but not THAT tricky, right? Ellie + ora. However, most of my aunts and uncles on both sides of the family decided almost immediately upon hearing it that it was weird and hard to pronounce ("Elinora? Ellalora? What it is?") so most of them call her Ellie. Which...that's okay, we knew when we named her that it was probably a nickname people might use. And our older daughter calls her "Ellie V." all the time (her middle name is Violet) which I kind of love. But it kind of irks me when people won't even TRY to use the name you give your kid. What I'm saying is, I feel your Isaac-related annoyance.

I have the opposite name problem. We named our daughter Madeleine and always thought we would call her Maddie, but we don't. Then other people insist on calling her Maddie and wonder why she doesn't turn around when they call her.

Yes, yes..the bucket tub. I love it! Are you and baby Ike happy with it? I am totally past needing any such things, BUT, my sister just got married and they are hoping to have kids ASAP sooo I will have a need to buy these things at some point. I did not like baby tubs. We just use some cushion thing in the sink for as long as we could.

Boy, that baby in the bucket KILLS ME! Especially the last one where he's kinda aaaaaahhing at the water trickle over his head. I WANTS ME ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE BABY THINGS! (and it's all your fault; I am so referring my baby daddy to you when he asks how, why, when, we said no more).

I have never for one minute since my 6 year old was born have thought I wanted another baby until I saw these pictures of Ike! OMG he is the cutest thing ever!!!! I want to smother him in kisses he is so cute! I must sign off as my uterus hurts now.

I have never for one minute since my 6 year old was born have thought I wanted another baby until I saw these pictures of Ike! OMG he is the cutest thing ever!!!! I want to smother him in kisses he is so cute! I must sign off as my uterus hurts now.

Ike is adorable! My son goes by a nickname as well and since he's only 1 he doesn't know he has a more formal name! If anyone tries to call him by his formal name or a different nickname he won't answer. That just might be the fix for your stuborn relative!

Yeah, he's definitely a keeper. Sooo darn cute. And Noah giving him the bear, I died...your kids are officially awesome. (Like you didn't know that already!)

Name thing, tricky. I have a friend whose daughter's name is rather odd, and ya, I usually call her just by her first initial. She has about a million nicknames, mostly given to her by her mom, and is only 3 years old. She adorably responds to any of them. So I am pro-nickname regarless of how you get there.

On the flipside, I work in HR and holy alternate names, Batman. I have employees call with questions constantly and when I look them up, I see a Mike LastName, but not a Christoper LastName. "Oh, ya, that's me. My real name is Mike, but I go by Christopher." WTH? How am I supposed to know that? So long comment short, nicknames rock, but please make sure he knows his legal name too. :)

About the photos, have you tried editing with Instagram? If the pic is still on your phone, go to 'share' on Instagram, then click on the photo stack icon. I think the photos are lovely but you might be able to get them more how you want them that way!

I LOVE the bucket tub. Never used one before because YES! The versions I saw all seemed stupid expensive. So we always did the reclining seat kind in the sink or tub, and Noah and Ezra both criiiiiiiiiieeed during bathtime, without fail. I think they felt too exposed or vulnerable or something.

The bucket tub CAN be a pain if, say, baby spits up or poops while bathing (hasn't happened to us YET) -- there's nothing you can do but take baby out, dump the water and start all over. But oh, Ike is so, so peaceful and blissed out during his bath that to me, it's worth the trade-off.

Whenever he gets super amped up for no reason I just plop him in a few inches of warm water and it's instant calm.

1. I take a ton of photos all at once with Camera + and then I save them and use them in the other apps because I like the filters better. Also because Camera + is the only one I've found that will take a ton at once.

2. My third is a boy. The other two are girls. I still call everyone the dogs name half the time. I now understand why my mom always pointed and said YOU!!

Adorable! Now let's get to the post about cloth diapering a new born already so my 12 wk preggo self can start preparing. I kid I kid! I can't blame you for putting that off when you have Ike to help you procrastinate. We are so getting one of those buckets just for the photo ops!
You make the cutest babies!

My 2.5 year old is Isaac, but really Ike. We call him Buddy a lot. He was an "old man baby" too, and I took several really awesome/ridiculous photos of him in 3 piece suits ($12.99 at Penney's clearance!) that made him look like an old man baby banker. I kept wanting to frame one and put a little gold plaque under it that said something like "Your loan is DENIED!" In short, you have awesome beautiful boys, and I'm glad you share them with us.

EXACT same situation here. wanted to name daughter nickname, gave her formal name (that I'm not even particularly fond of) juuuust in case she wants a formal name one day (and also after talking to a few people who said it was actually quite a headache to have a nickname for their formal name). MIL spent the first three months of her life calling her by her formal name (the one I don't particularly like). Eventually told husband I would be happy to ask her to please call daughter by name we have chosen, or he could do it, and he chose to do it. It took another week of passive-aggressive formal-name calling, but eventually she got it. SOOO frustrating, though.

Sweet Lord, Ike is a precious baby! We're most likely "one and done" on the kid front, but that doesn't keep me from ogling other people's wee ones. I'm one of three kids, and all of our names begin with "J," so I learned to answer to pretty much anything!

Really? A South Park reference? Clearly I don't watch enough TV. The only Ike I had ever heard of was Ike Turner. Which is why my guy reaction was: "Wow. Isaac is a really nice name." You can smack me, it's ok. I can take it. That said, I feel like Ike has totally reclaimed the name, and the person I think of now when I hear it is that cute little dude in the bucket. :)

I wasn't around for the whole nickname/long name discussion, but I like that he has a more formal name for grown-up moments. It may be the only way he'll be able to lose the "Baby" from "Baby Ike." ;)

And in the case of the relative who insists on calling him Isaac, I would just always repeat, "Issac who? Oh, you mean Ike? Okay, continue..." everytime they use it. They'll get so annoyed they'll switch just to get you to stop.

I don't know if your relative is being passive-aggressive....some of us just are not comfortable using nicknames, short forms of names etc until we REALLY know a person. My daughter is Megan and hearing "Meg" or "Meggs" or "Meggie"totally upsets me, especially when it's from people who are NOT her momma (hi daycare workers, I'm talking to you!). I think I don't use short forms or nicknames out of respect, however misguided, with great intentions. I have an apparent inability to listen to what people WANT to be called though because this has come up before and I've had to be reminded several times to call someone Matt instead of Matthew or whatever.

Eva, coming from someone who's been a nickname-as-namer since age 3 and who occasionally has to push the issue with people who insist on using my government name--you're right, that still seems inconsiderate. It's not like you're calling them 'lambchop' or 'honeypie'- you're addressing them as they wish to be addressed, which seems to be the respectful thing to do whether you've known someone a minute or a decade. People who do this to adults come off as not caring enough to remember what someone's name is. With babies, it more likely than not *is* a passive-aggressive display of 'I don't approve of what you named your child'.

(On a barely related tangent, the spelling thing is another issue- my name is one letter off from the more common spelling, and I'll never forget how long it took a freaking BRIGID at work to 'remember'. Total bitch move. Like a *Brigid* isn't gonna be sensitive to name spellings.)

My oldest son's name is Logan and that's what we called him until he renamed himself at 2 1/2 years old. One day when looking in a mirror, he was naming the people around him and called himself Ho-Ha. It's what he's called himself ever since, and only recently did my dad get him to start spelling and saying Logan. My husband and I usually call him Ho-Ha, but he responds to either name. Ike could decide at some point he'd like to be called something that doesn't even related to his given names. I've got a formal name but have been Margie probably from day one, and answer to any number of different names bestowed upon me by friends and family. I agree with the previous poster that says maybe the "Isaac" thing from the kinda-sorta-maybe-passive-aggressive relative can be a special thing between them. Or maybe Ike will grow up and inform them of what he'd like them to call him. What it really comes down to is remembering that he's too young to know what a name is at this point. (My MIL keeps calling my 7 week old Max, even though his name is Malcolm/Mal/Red Hulk/Mjolnir. We'll all get it right eventually.)

My oldest son's name is Logan and that's what we called him until he renamed himself at 2 1/2 years old. One day when looking in a mirror, he was naming the people around him and called himself Ho-Ha. It's what he's called himself ever since, and only recently did my dad get him to start spelling and saying Logan. My husband and I usually call him Ho-Ha, but he responds to either name. Ike could decide at some point he'd like to be called something that doesn't even related to his given names. I've got a formal name but have been Margie probably from day one, and answer to any number of different names bestowed upon me by friends and family. I agree with the previous poster that says maybe the "Isaac" thing from the kinda-sorta-maybe-passive-aggressive relative can be a special thing between them. Or maybe Ike will grow up and inform them of what he'd like them to call him. What it really comes down to is remembering that he's too young to know what a name is at this point. (My MIL keeps calling my 7 week old Max, even though his name is Malcolm/Mal/Red Hulk/Mjolnir. We'll all get it right eventually.)

Ok, so I looked at the picture of the tub. Uh, how does he stay upright if he can't hold himself up? Because you are not holding him up. It seems as though he should be face-planting the wall of the bucket or something...

You and Jason sure make adorable babies! Those eyes on Ike, they're huge! What a sweetpea.

Chris and I were stuck on a name for baby #2, we were trying out all kinds of vaguely Irish-sounding names that would compliment Ryan (baby #1). After Chris rejected Dylan, Ian, Evan, and Ethan, I had almost given up when I chatted with our I.T. guy at work whose name was Nathan. Light bulb!

So yes, I got the idea for Nathan's name from a guy at work. So we had the whole -an thing going, but for Kaitlyn, I was mashing up Kay (my Mom's middle name) and Lynn (my sister and my SIL's middle names. They sound similar enough though that once in a while I stammer "hey, Ry..Nay..Kaitlyn!"

We named our oldest Mary Grace, and I spent most of the first year correcting people who called her Mary, or Grace, or Gracie, or Mary Alice (WTF?!) and other random assed combinations of names that were not her name. Her name is "Mary Grace," damnit! How hard is it?

Well, lo and behold I could have saved my breath, because right around age 2, she stopped answering when people called her anything other than Mary Grace. So they could sit there and say, "Hey Gracie!" until they were blue in the face, but she would just walk on by. Problem solved.

Then we went pro and named our son John Paul (after a dear friend who died), but we call him Jack. Hey, it worked for the Kennedys.

Our middle child keeps it real. Her full name is Claire Elizabeth, but she just goes by Claire.

I want them all to have lots of options when they're grown.

Anyway, don't give the name thing too much thought. It'll work itself out. What's important is what you and Dad call him - that's the name he'll learn.

We named our oldest Mary Grace, and I spent most of the first year correcting people who called her Mary, or Grace, or Gracie, or Mary Alice (WTF?!) and other random assed combinations of names that were not her name. Her name is "Mary Grace," damnit! How hard is it?

Well, lo and behold I could have saved my breath, because right around age 2, she stopped answering when people called her anything other than Mary Grace. So they could sit there and say, "Hey Gracie!" until they were blue in the face, but she would just walk on by. Problem solved.

Then we went pro and named our son John Paul (after a dear friend who died), but we call him Jack. Hey, it worked for the Kennedys.

Our middle child keeps it real. Her full name is Claire Elizabeth, but she just goes by Claire.

I want them all to have lots of options when they're grown.

Anyway, don't give the name thing too much thought. It'll work itself out. What's important is what you and Dad call him - that's the name he'll learn.

We named our oldest Mary Grace, and I spent most of the first year correcting people who called her Mary, or Grace, or Gracie, or Mary Alice (WTF?!) and other random assed combinations of names that were not her name. Her name is "Mary Grace," damnit! How hard is it?

Well, lo and behold I could have saved my breath, because right around age 2, she stopped answering when people called her anything other than Mary Grace. So they could sit there and say, "Hey Gracie!" until they were blue in the face, but she would just walk on by. Problem solved.

Then we went pro and named our son John Paul (after a dear friend who died), but we call him Jack. Hey, it worked for the Kennedys.

Our middle child keeps it real. Her full name is Claire Elizabeth, but she just goes by Claire.

I want them all to have lots of options when they're grown.

Anyway, don't give the name thing too much thought. It'll work itself out. What's important is what you and Dad call him - that's the name he'll learn.

(For the record, the Isaac-calling relative openly expressed a deep dislike for the name Ike when I was pregnant and shared the name with a few people. [Not an Eisenhower fan, apparently!] So yeah, no matter what their intentions are NOW, it totally smacks of "I don't like the name you chose, so I'm not going to use it." I don't make a big deal over it or anything...obviously I love his full name too...but I also figure Noah and Ezra will set them straight because NO, his name is Baby Ike, duhhh.)

I named my oldest child Shannon Marie, in 1963 when it was not a common name. My grandmother refused to accept it and called her Ruth and told everyone her name was Ruth. Second child Jennifer led to the name mix-up crazies like you described. Jann - Shennn - Girls! My third child, Michael, decided that "Girl" was Shannon's name and called her that for years. Meanwhile, her sister called her "Honey" because I called her "honey". You'd think once they all grew up she would be allowed to claim her rightful name, but no...Jenni gave birth to a boy who couldn't say "Shannon" so he called her "Nanny" and so did everyone else so now it's "Oh, hi, have you talked to Nan?"

Woah. You had me at random name generator. At 29 weeks, we still don't have a solid list of boys names for baby #3 and we could probably use a few more girl ideas, too. (Sex is a surprise.) I'm ready to let a randomized computer program name my baby!

I totally get the name Tourette's... My first son is Zachary, and my second is Jackson. We always used the full name for Zachary, so when we chose Jackson while preggo with #2... it wasn't until someone squealed, "OH! You will have Zach and Jack, how cute!" that it EVEN dawned on us! Meh. I was still OK with it. But now, I call them both the same thing... sort of a Z-Jack or a J-Zach, depending on who I am addressing because my stupid brain can't work right!

I totally get the name Tourette's... My first son is Zachary, and my second is Jackson. We always used the full name for Zachary, so when we chose Jackson while preggo with #2... it wasn't until someone squealed, "OH! You will have Zach and Jack, how cute!" that it EVEN dawned on us! Meh. I was still OK with it. But now, I call them both the same thing... sort of a Z-Jack or a J-Zach, depending on who I am addressing because my stupid brain can't work right!

I think we need side by sides of Noah, Ezra and Ike at the same age so we can vote who he looks most like. Yeah, I know that is a lot of work on your end to dig up pics, but... minimal words required, FTW!

Our nephew's name is Isaac. His parents and sibs sometimes call him 'Ike' but when his dad says his full name he says it, 'Eye-Zack' when everyone else says it more like 'Eye-zik'. And here in Chicago we have the Eisenhower Expressway, which everyone calls 'The Ike' or as the radio guys put it, The Ikenheimer.

My second is Julia, mostly called Julie, or Jules, or Julia Robin in a singsongy voice. Because I loved the versatality of it. But I had one relative insisting I choose between Julia and Julie. Um, no.
And the WashPod so rocks. It is firmly numero dos on the must have newborn gizmos, right after my beloved Ergo.

It could be worse. You could have a passive-aggressive relative who insists on calling him "Zach." Which is like, NOT EVEN A NICKNAME FOR ISAAC AND MY KID IS NOT NAMED ZACHARY THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR LACK OF CONCERN ABOUT GETTING HIS NAME RIGHT, RELATIVE WHO ALWAYS USED TO SEND ME CARDS LABELED JEALITH.

It could be worse. You could have a passive-aggressive relative who insists on calling him "Zach." Which is like, NOT EVEN A NICKNAME FOR ISAAC AND MY KID IS NOT NAMED ZACHARY THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR LACK OF CONCERN ABOUT GETTING HIS NAME RIGHT, RELATIVE WHO ALWAYS USED TO SEND ME CARDS LABELED JEALITH.

Out of all of my family, I am the only one whose name doesn't shorten to a nickname. Everyone has the full formal name (and for one of my cousins, it's a doozy!) but goes by their nickname, so I can't say that I would think it's a big deal. Of course, my dad goes by the first part of our last name (seriously, his work ID is Fake Fakeley). Nicknames are cool.

Out of all of my family, I am the only one whose name doesn't shorten to a nickname. Everyone has the full formal name (and for one of my cousins, it's a doozy!) but goes by their nickname, so I can't say that I would think it's a big deal. Of course, my dad goes by the first part of our last name (seriously, his work ID is Fake Fakeley). Nicknames are cool.

Love, love, love the Ike pictures...but I should confess...I was expecting a Zeke...as in Ezekiel...Ike was a nice surprise...my wedding videographer was named Issac and went by Ike...one of the NICEST men I've ever met...good choice for a gorgeous little man!

My daughter is Elizabeth and son is Evan. We called our daughter Elizabeth up until the last 2 years or so. She insisted she was Elizabeth until she started playing soccer and it got too much for her coaches (as in, me & my dad) to yell, so she became Liz. Then she wanted Lizzy. Now we have the baby and he can call her Izzy but no one else can. My mom calls her Izzybeth. I can't keep up.

Thought I was safer with Evan - not to many nickname options there. But no. It's Ev, Evs. Husband calls him Ever, cause, you know, that fits.

My formal name is Cynthia, but I go by Cindy. And then there are the few who call me Cin for no apparent reason.

I don't think it matters what you were named or name you kids anymore. People name them for you (or they name themselves).

I can't believe no one is commenting on how much Ike looks like Noah in these pictures. And to the commenter who worries that Ezra will feel left out-- maybe he will take his cue from his big brother that Baby Ike is totally awesome and he'll adopt that attitude as well.